Wednesday, 3 January 2018

People said that the age of heroes would never come again. (Justice League 2017)

 











158.
Justice League

 

 
8/10

 
The DC takes another huge step to try and counter the growth and success of Marvel. This time, it brings together a lot of big names for the Justice League, which means we are going to see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman, even though we don't know when Superman will appear, but he is in the posters. This film is going to be a lot shorter than the superhero films that we have been watching over the years, so it could be that it will be action packed, rather than beating around the bush with some needless storyline, which is being constantly dragged on. This movie is a highly anticipated one for me, not knowing whether Affleck will remain as Batman or not. I just hope that this is on the level of Wonder Woman, rather than this mess of Batman vs Superman.
So, the movie begins and shows us Earth, thousands of years ago, Steppenwolf and his army are trying to conquer the planet through combined energies known as the Mother Boxes. They are defeated by a unified army, which contained Olympia Gods, Amazons and other well-known characters such as a Green Lantern. After winning, they separate the boxes and hide them in different locations. Fast-forward to present and the world is still in mourning from the loss of Superman, whose death has caused the Mother Boxes to reactivate and call out to their master, with Steppenwolf returning to gain favour with his master, Darkseid. Already, we have seen Diana, as Wonder Woman, foil a terrorist plot in London, with her usual music and slow-motion action. Back in her actual home of Themyscira, Steppenwolf has arrived to retrieve his first box. Defeating the Amazonians and prompting the Queen to light the invasion fires, to warn her daughter. Diana joins Bruce Wayne in trying to recruit metahumans to fight for Earth. Wayne travels to get Barry Allen, revealing he know who he is and Allen, played by Ezra Miller, brings a new kind of comedy to the movie. With a nervous disposition, he is a breath of fresh air after years of enjoying Grant Gustin playing the same role in the CW universe. Wayne fails in getting Arthur Curry to join though. Jason Mamoa has taken on the role of Aquaman, who at times is show pathetic in comedy shows and history. This time, a tattooed, darker character emerges from the sea and is easily liked. He turns down the chance to join, figuring that he must protect Atlantis instead. Diana also fails in trying to recruit Victor Stone, AKA, Cyborg. He is gradually growing more and more into a metallic being. He later decides to join though, as his father has been kidnapped by one of Steppenwolf's minions, as he looks to retain the box from mankind.
Steppenwolf steps up his pursuit for the two remaining boxes, as he heads to Atlantis and attacks, finally forcing Curry to act and join the league. James Gordon gives the group some information on Steppenwolf's hideout below Gotham Harbour. In the scenes that follow, where they try to save the hostages, we finally get to see the Flash in action and it is a great scene. Although they succeed, the facility gets flooded and the group are trapped, until Aquaman shows up and delays the water so that they can all escape. Cyborg reveals that he has been hiding the last Mother Box, as his father used it to rebuild him after an accident, which nearly cost him his life. Wayne gets the idea that they can use it on Superman, not only to bring him onto the team, but also to give Earth and its people some new hope. He also has a special plan in place, just in case Superman comes back as a nemesis. Clark's body is exhumed and taken to the same Kryptonian ship from BvS, where is he placed in the incubation waters and successfully brought back. At first, he is unaware of where he is and has no memories, which causes him to attack the league after Cyborg accidentally shoots a missile at him because he cannot control some of his robotic transformations. On the verge of losing the team, Bruce reveals his back-up plan and out walks Lois Lane, to calm Superman down and the two fly off to Clark's farm house, which has now been sold to the bank after non-payments. Elsewhere, with the final Mother Box unguarded now, Steppenwolf has his hands on it.
Without Superman in their team, the rest of the league head to a remote village in Russia, that is being taken over by Steppenwolf as he tries to recreate Earth. They all fight their way through plenty of Parademons, in their own special ways, which include them helping each other too. Inside some shield, over the town, the colours of the sky are now a purple or red, which creates a different style of filming and texture to the scenes. They finally hit Steppenwolf's base but aren't able to distract him long enough in order to separate the Mother Boxes, so Flash tries to evacuate the rest of the town, whilst the others carry on fighting Steppenwolf. Just as they look beat though, the inevitable happens. Superman shows, firstly using his own speed to help the Flash with the citizens. This brings a bit of humour as Flash is pushing a car full out of town, as Superman is carrying an apartment block. He heads back and back to even help Cyborg separating the Mother Boxes and the team continues to defeat Steppenwolf, who, begins to feel fear and the Parademons turn on him, as they all transport him away. Will he be seen again?
The film ends with Diana and Bruce at Wayne manor, declaring that they will rebuild the place as a base for the league, stating that they will create a bigger table with more seats, linking to room for more in the team. Allen has start his job with the police, Cyborg continues exploring his capabilities, Curry returns to Atlantis and Diana to the spotlight, as the hero she is. The Post credits scene firstly give us a race between Superman and the Flash, but doesn't reveal the winner. At the very end of the credits we have a better scene. Lex Luthor has escaped from Arkham and has set aboard a ship, living the high life. As a smaller speed boat pulls up, the familiar armour of Slade Wilson, or Deathstroke, gets aboard Luthor's boat. Cleary being recruited for a league of their own.
So, are the DC films continuing to fail? According to the critics yes, but I really enjoyed this movie. With it being in the same year as Wonder Woman and the success that that film created, it was always going to be a hard task to follow on. The film isn't as long as the superhero films that we have come to know and that is only a good thing. It meant that it was full of action, constantly movie and introducing new things every time. Starting mainly with the bad points, the CGI was terrible at two points. Those being the look on Steppenwolf, which could have been a lot better, also making him look eviller. The second being the fiasco with Superman and his moustache. If you haven't read about it, please do. Cavill needed to come back for reshoots when filming Mission Impossible, so he couldn't shave. Ridiculous. Joss Whedon took over the final cut and this has led to people wanting Snyder's final piece to be released, stating that it could be better than what was released. It felt also like they dragged out the scene fighting Steppenwolf, with Superman off helping the evacuation, mainly to give the rest of the league a chance to fight because Superman would end the battle within seconds. This, along with the fact that many of the scenes in the trailers are not visible within the final cut, complete the badness. The humour created throughout was good, mainly with each of the heroes being completely different to each other and bouncing off one another really well. The musical score, also takes us back to the original music for Batman and Superman for a bit of nostalgia. The action itself was really cool and fast paced, meaning that it keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering who the scene will flip to next to see in action. It is definitely better than Suicide Squad and BvS but comes short on Wonder Woman. Still worth the watch and decide for yourself though.

 

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